First meeting in Beijing to talk about writing
From December 28 to 31, 1977, presided over by Zhang Guangnian, editor-in-chief of "People's Literature", a symposium of literary workers attended by more than 100 writers was held at the General Staff Guest House of The Shipping Warehouse in Dongzhimen, Beijing.
Huang Zhen, then minister of culture, and Zhang Pinghua, then director of the Central Propaganda Department, who attended the meeting, and Guo Moruo, who was unable to attend the meeting due to illness, wrote a handwritten letter congratulating the meeting.
During the meeting, people said that the poet Xu Chi, following "The Light of Geology", went to the Zhongguancun Institute of Mathematics many times for in-depth interviews, wrote a far-sighted and passionate "Goldbach Conjecture", which has published the headline of the first issue of "People's Literature" in 1978, and will soon meet with the vast number of readers.
On December 30, 1977, after Zhou Yang made a long speech, a man in a black Zhongshan suit stood up and walked around me, who was sitting in the front row, and strode up to the podium. He had a broad forehead, a slightly bald top of his head, a thick eyebrow, and piercing eyes. This is the poet I have long loved, Xu Chi, who produced his first collection of poems, "Twenty-Year-Olds", at the age of twenty. He excitedly recounts the deep feelings of being involved in the natural sciences over the months. He said that he first wade through the mountains and rivers in geology, geomechanics and other disciplines; Later, in the kingdom of mathematics and analytic number theory, he explored the hidden suowei; I'm also ready to go out and visit the hydrodynamics and tropical and subtropical ravine rainforests. He said: The figures in the scientific circles have won glory for the country and their deeds are touching. It is infuriating that science, like literature, has been severely devastated and brutally persecuted by the glamorous rays... However, the harsh winter has passed, spring has arrived, and the climate has warmed.
Xu Chi's first book of poems, Twenty-Year-Old Man
The poet's passionate speech won warm applause from the participants. Two weeks later, in 1978, the first issue of People's Literature was published, and the Goldbach Conjecture met with a wide audience. Immediately after that, the People's Daily reprinted the full text on February 17, 1978. The entire literary circle and the entire reading circle immediately boiled over. People talked about this deafening work with flying eyebrows, telling Xu Chi's colorful chapter of Chen Jingrun's arduous climbing on the abstract mathematical plateau in figurative language; Memorizing the manuscript paper of the mathematical calculus described in the text, like snowflakes flying in the sky, piled up on the floor slab, three feet deep; Memorizing the author's words about the pages of higher mathematical calculus, "it is the empty valley orchid, the alpine rhododendron, the ginseng in the old forest, the snow lotus on the iceberg, the lingzhi on the top, the peony of human abstract thinking..." Ah, where is the news language of the reporter's interview, it is definitely the poet's brilliant brushstrokes.
At that time, Xu Chi had accepted the entrustment of Fang Yi, vice premier of the State Council and president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and together with Zhou Ming, the editor-in-charge, went deep into the subtropical dense forest of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, to interview the botanist Cai Xitao's major contributions. Before and after the Chinese New Year's Eve, they burrowed into the remote and wild primeval forest and worked hard. They did not know that the Goldbach Conjecture had caused a national sensation, that the mathematical torch lit by the poet had illuminated the land of China, that everyone had read the text of the Conjecture, and that everyone was discussing the matter of jingrun, and the grandeur was unprecedented.
After Xu Chi finished the interview, he wrote "Evergreen tree of life", carefully sent it to the local leaders for review, and then returned to Beijing with the draft with Zhou Ming. Sitting on the plane, Xu Chi regretted that shi was like gold, took out the manuscript paper printed with the words "People's Literature", modified and polished the reportage, and was glimpsed by the sharp-eyed flight attendant. She asked in a very surprised tone, "Old sir, you are from the People's Literature magazine?" Xu Chi smiled and pointed to Zhou Ming next to him: "He is from People's Literature." The flight attendant said excitedly: "This issue of "People's Literature" published Xu Chi's "Goldbach Conjecture", and everyone rushed to read it. We were very touched to see it, it was so well written, and everyone rushed to tell each other. Zhou Ming told the beautiful stewardess: "He is Xu Chi, and the article was written by him." The stewardess's eyes lit up, and she quickly bowed deeply to Xu Chi:
"Old man, you have worked hard, you have written so well!" On behalf of the readers, I thank you. ”
Back in Beijing, hearing a round of praise, Xu Chi felt shy and uncomfortable, and quickly hid in the Yannan Garden of Peking University to interview physicist Zhou Peiyuan. Two months later, when Xu Chi and Zhou Ming went to Zhongguancun to visit Chen Jingrun, they found that his living and working conditions had greatly improved and he already had his own office. Chen Jingrun, the first newcomer typical to appear in the literature of the new period, received letters from readers from all over the country, and there were as many sacks piled on the office floor. There was a bag of letters in the innermost part of the room, covered with several magazines.
In the late 1970s, Xu Chi was with mathematician Chen Jingrun (fellow writers Huang Zongying, Zhou Ming, and Qin Mu)
Xu Chi asked Chen Jingrun, "Then why did the sack letter be put separately?" Chen Jingrun said: "There are letters written by girls, some are willing to wash and cook for me, some express their admiration, and some say that they want to live with me for life... I was worried that others would not see it well, so I put it in the innermost part and kept it. ”
Xu Chi said to Zhou Ming: "Mathematician Chen Jingrun has a heart to protect girls. ”
In order to present the upcoming National Science Conference, Xu Chima did not stop writing a book, and after writing "The Evergreen Tree of Life", he rushed to write "In the Whirlpool of Turbulence" and other masterpieces. As a result, he became a pioneer and leader in reportage in the new era.
Reunite on the shores of East Lake in Wuhan
On November 30, 1981, I went to Wuhan with Yan Ming, the poetry editor of October magazine, first went to the compound of the Wuhan Military Region to secretly comfort Bai Birch, the author of "Bitter Love", who was being criticized, and visited Xu Chi on the shore of the East Lake in Wuchang in the afternoon.
Yan Ming is an old poet who has published more than ten poetry collections such as "Night in March", "Beijing Lyric Poem", "Gardenia in Hometown" and so on. As early as 1959, he edited and published Xu Chi's collection of commentaries "Poetry and Life" at the Beijing Publishing House, so they were close literary friends. A week before we went to visit Xu Chi, Yan Ming also received a letter from him in Beijing, talking about his beloved wife Chen Song who had bowel cancer, and opened it with surgery to see that it was a benign tumor that had not yet spread, and his heart was greatly relieved, saying that he could resume his pen and ink career in the future...
Xu Chi, Chen Song and his eldest daughter Xu Lu
When we arrived at Xu Chi's house, he was taking a nap. He was overjoyed to see us, so he led us to the study and sat down to talk. While the two poets reminisced about the past, I carefully looked at the three bookshelves standing against the wall: one shelf contained some old English books; Another bookshelf is interspersed with Lu Xun's works, essays, poems, and dozens of large and small hard leather notebooks erected - I sat on the sofa and thought to myself, these may be the interview books accumulated over the years, which will provide rich and vivid materials for Xu Chi's creation; Strikingly, the third shelf is lined with many music books, including "Dictionary of Music", "Biography of Musicians", as well as "Opera Sketches", "World Famous Musicians", "The Story of Musicians and Musical Compositions" and other works written and published by Xu In the early years.
Curious, I asked Xu Chi, "Why do you love music so much?" Xu Chi told me: "My hometown is Nanxun, the ancient town of Wuxing County on the shore of Taihu Lake. We are the land of fish and rice. Nanxun has Xiaolianzhuang Park, Jiayetang Library, and China's earliest silk industry. Both of my parents were teachers. My father ran a correctional home for poor children in his hometown. There was a pipe band in the correctional home, and a piano, but no strings. I grew up in the sound of music, which fostered my penchant for music. In 1936, Shanghai held a symphony concert. I rushed from my hometown to admire it, and after the meeting, I took a ride back to Nanxun, Zhejiang. It can be seen that I am very obsessed with music. I especially love classical music, I have a few phonograph records at home, and I want to buy a floor record player and listen to it. ”
In 1936, Xu Chi took a group photo with Dai Wangshu
Xu Chi is essentially a poet. In addition to "Twenty-Year-Old Man", he also published poetry collections "War, Peace and Progress", "Beauty, Magic and Abundance", "Song of the Republic", and in the mid-1950s, he also served as the deputy editor of "Poetry Journal". Therefore, the two poets talked about poetry and poets, such as several family treasures, very familiar. Xu Chi said: "On poetry, Xu Zhimo is the first, Dai Wangshu is the second, Bian Zhilin is the third, and Ai Qing is the fourth. I interjected: "Ai Qing ranked fourth, is the evaluation low?" Xu Chi believes that ranking fourth is also an outstanding poet since may fourth.
I asked him, "Did you sign the name 'Xu Chi' in the poem you first published?" He smiled and said, "No. My original name was Xu Shangshou. The debut does not use the name 'Xu Chi'. I have three older sisters above me, and I'm the fourth oldest. My parents called me 'Chi Bao'. After publishing my work for a few years, I used the pen name 'Xu Chi', which originally meant to tell myself to live a little slower, not to always be fast-paced, impatient, and hurried. However, I can't slow down in my life. ”
Before bidding farewell, Xu Chi told us that he planned to find a carpenter, measure the size of the room, make a batch of bookshelves, put a few rooms against the wall, buy a batch of books, and establish a decent think tank. He smiled brightly under his eyebrows and said, "My ship has enough oil, and I can set sail on this shore of the Yangtze River." ”
Reunite with Shenzhen Creative Home
On March 5, 1992, my lover and I took a train from Guangzhou to Shenzhen, hailed a taxi, and took us to the resort founded by the Chinese Literature Foundation under the Qilin Mountain on the shore of Xili Lake. When they reported to the office group, they learned that xu Chi, a reporter, Wang Yuanhua, a scholar, Shu Peide, a children's writer, Ding Ning, Jiang Bo, And Li Tianfang, a poet Xiaolei, and Tu Guangqun, deputy director of the editorial department of "People's Literature," were also on vacation.
The next morning, I went to the garden for morning exercise and happened to meet Mr. Wang Yuanhua, who was the director of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. He is currently proofreading an academic work called Speculative Essays. From him, I learned that my lover Zhang Ke, who had suffered a mild stroke, also came. The predecessor translator ManTao I aspire to is Zhang Ke's brother.
In the sound of forest birds and the fragrance of roses, Xu Chi walked to our side and talked with us about literary translation. Then Wang Yuanhua, Xu Chi, and I discussed and compared Liang Shiqiu, Zhu Shenghao, Cao Weifeng, Fang Ping, Sun Dayu, Tu An, and nearly twenty others who translated Shakespeare's works, who had the best translation. Mr. Wang Yuanhua, who wears deep myopia glasses, said: "I think Zhu Shenghao's translation is the best. He is familiar with classical poetry, so the words in his pen are integrated, catchy, and very expressive. If you ask him to translate it as it is, it will not be fluent, and the style will be gone. "I have studied many of zhu Shenghao's translations and agreed. Xu Chi said: "Professor Sun Dayu of Fudan University is very erudite, and I admire him very much. When I was in charge of the Poetry Journal, I published his translation of the poems of the English poet John Milton, which were of high quality and good in rhyme, so I paid him the highest fee. Wang Yuanhua, who shines in the morning sun on the lens of his glasses, said: "Sun Dayu is a strange person, full of energy, and can write all night without sleep." Xu Chi walked to the breakfast dining room and said, "Compared with translation, I like to create, creative freedom." I'm always dissatisfied with my translations..."
In 1978, Xu Chi interviewed the famous botanist Cai Xitao in Kunming, the protagonist of "Evergreen tree of life"
On the morning of March 11, 1992, the writers who were on vacation and recuperating here lined up on the lawn in front of the "Creation House" to take a group photo.
Xu Chi was 78 years old, the oldest among the crowd, but he squatted down in the front row. He has a lovely smile and is as innocent and cute as a child. He did not have the shelf of a great writer, always modest and courteous, amiable, simple as a child, transparent as ice and snow.
After taking the photo, I asked Xu to come to my room 110 late for coffee and chat, and he gladly went there. After sitting down on the couch, I made him a cup of Nescafe. He casually opened the "Wang Zengqi Self-Selected Works" on the coffee table and I was reading, and read the first short poem "Bunting Flag"—"The bunting flag of the wind is like a bound wave", and his face immediately sank, covering his eyes with a book, and he was silent. I asked him, "Why are you silent?" He reproached himself: "This short poem was issued by me when I was the deputy editor of the Poetry Journal. Maybe I hurt him. Zeng Qi probably suffered from the "anti-rightism" in these two short poems, and was sent to live outside Zhangjiakou to dig up the dung in the sheep pen. Alas, man, man, man, man's life is often caused by countless accidental factors. ”
Then we talked about literature and science. He believes that the most terrible thing about engaging in literature is to fall into the cliché. As soon as you enter the set, it is old, like a craft, losing its aura, and only the craftsmanship remains. "Therefore, I always follow the trend of science and technology and follow the trend, so that I can learn a little new things, get a little new ideas, and continue to innovate, not only to write some superficial things." Science is broad and profound. ”
Xu Chi's photo in front of nanxun middle school in his hometown
"Science can change human life. Every morning at two o'clock in the morning, as soon as I wake up, I study esoteric science, delve into theoretical physics, read Einstein's Theory of Relativity, study 'quarks', study the composition of the material world, study elementary particles, electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms, even if some places do not understand, the interest is also great. I am anxious to go back now, because my home in Wuhan has received an English version of "Destination To Mars" sent by a friend. I can't wait to get it. My family asked me if I wanted to send it to Shenzhen. I said, don't send it, I'm afraid of losing it. Science makes fantasies a reality. Before long, THERE will be a TAXI between the Earth and the Moon, and people may also go to Mars. People take flying boats, heaven and earth, shuttle back and forth, like taking a bus, very convenient. In another seven or eight years, we will enter the 21st century.
"Just as after a night into the morning, after a year of age and into the New Year, the new century will bring us many new things that are now unimaginable. The current situation is that many writers do not understand science, and many scientists (with the exception of Qian Xuesen) do not understand literature. If scientists understand literature, and if literary scholars understand science, they can popularize science with beautiful and vivid words so that the broad masses of the people can understand it..."
He and I talked freely about lunch that day before we broke up with great interest and in a longing relationship.
I looked at the back of The bald head, gray hair, and slightly hunched upper body of the old man Xu Chi, and thought that he was a literary scholar who understood science, loved science, and embraced science. After a few more days, the weather was very warm, Xu Chi, the southern flying goose, decided to go back to the house, anxious to see the "Destination Mars" book. The night before I went back to Wuhan, I went to say goodbye. He was packing and packing, and when he saw me going to see him, he patted the dust on his hands and sat down to talk to me. He changed his usual witty and humorous tone and said to me solemnly: "Lately I have been disappointed in the literary world. Literature is a business of the mind and spirit, but many writers write vulgar and low-grade interesting things in order to make money and cater to the market. You just have to go to bookstores and newsstands to see, some unsightly titles and covers surround you, vulgar. Editors also lack professionalism, and many new books displayed and sold at book fairs are similar, more imitations, more random collections, more repetitive publications, more grabbed translations and retranslations, more shoddy fabrications, fewer innovations, fewer good books, and fewer fine works. Critics are even weaker, only know how to take red envelopes, blindly talk about the scene. We don't have Belinsky-esque critics, we lack sharp, poignant eloquence. Faced with this situation, I am worried. ”
I expressed the same feeling and said: "Literature should never take making money as its main goal, and writers should assume morality and adhere to character." But at the same time sighed: the windows and doors were wide open, and flies came in; In the midst of the tide, it is inevitable that the mud and sand will fall. Personal strength is limited, and can only clean up. I advised Elder Xu: "You are already a person who is nearly eighty years old, and if you want to open up, you should take care of your body as the first in the future, and it is appropriate to put your creation in the second place." Xu Chi said, "Thank you for your concern." I haven't seen the poet Yan Ming for a long time, and I'll say hello to you when you return to Beijing. I said, "Definitely." Seeing that he was busy cleaning up before leaving, she shook hands with him and said goodbye.
Uncover the mystery of the poet's jump
On the afternoon of December 14, 1996, I took a taxi to the Xijiao Hotel to attend the Fifth Congress of the China Writers Association. After checking in, I stayed in room 318 and suddenly heard an explosive news: Xu Chi had committed suicide by jumping off a building at 12:00 p.m. on December 12!
The delegates were horrified and puzzled. The more than twenty delegates I met at the meeting were extremely sad and asked what had led to such a tragedy. Every room was talking about it. Several writers speculated that this was caused by the loneliness of the elderly, and suggested that the writers should build an elderly apartment for writers with escorts to solve the problem of their loneliness. Some people think that his second marriage failed, met unladylike, children were estranged, although he soon broke up with Ms. C, always regretful. Some say he played with the computer and was influenced by the decadence of the end of the century spread by a certain religion. Some people think that he cannot tolerate the frequent attacks of diseases such as blood pressure instability, gastrointestinal discomfort, and severe bronchitis, and take this as a countermeasure. Some people said that Hubei writers' friends were coming to Beijing to attend the congress and went to the sixth floor of Tongji Hospital to bid farewell to him, which made him feel lonely and lonely and alone unable to attend the meeting. Some people speculate that he suffers from old age depression, and he can't think of it in his heart to find short-sightedness... There is no consensus on all kinds of statements.
As a child, Xu Chi (a neutral) took a group photo with his siblings in Nanxun
On the 17th, after lunch, I met Zeng Zhuo, an old poet of the Hubei Regiment, on the way. Elder Zeng and Xu Chi had been friends for many years, so they asked him about it.
He said: Throughout his life, Xu Chi pursued truth, goodness, and beauty, and was not accustomed to the false evils and ugliness in society, so he lived a life of isolation from the world, not reading publications, not reading books, not reading newspapers, not watching television, not answering the phone, not listening to music, not playing computers, not being a guest, and not going out. He only studied the Constitution at home, read it repeatedly with the Constitution, and believed that the Constitution was the deepest philosophy, the most beautiful literature, and the most fair and just fundamental law. Zeng's old words still can't solve the mystery in my heart.
Because Xu Chi's humanistic writing is one of the objects of my greatest admiration among contemporary writers, I have been trying to unravel the mystery of death since the convention. After long-term inquiries and detailed inquiries from his close assistants, proud protégés, friendly neighbors, friends of poets, and responsible editors, he finally sorted out a clear vein and understood that he had died so closely and so often, mainly because of his extreme mental pain.
At that time, the serious literary magazine "Yangtze River Literature and Art", which he had edited, was slow to sell, and the number of orders repeatedly declined and declined, leaving less than 10,000 copies; The popular publication "Legend of The Ancient and Modern" in Wuhan also has a circulation of one million, two million or even more than two million copies. The disparity between the two was so great that he couldn't figure it out. At that time, the bookseller was frantically pirated and printed best-selling books, made a lot of money, and lived like a local tycoon, and he, a hard-working book writer, could only live in the bedroom like an ice cellar, freezing all night. What he couldn't figure out was why the authorities didn't take strong measures to protect intellectual property rights, and why did they allow unscrupulous booksellers to commit blatant theft. Scientists have made great contributions in obscurity, but he can't figure out why the lives of those who study satellites and missiles are not as good as those who sell tea eggs and pigeon eggs on the streets. People who act, act in movies, and sing songs have amazingly high salaries and appearance fees, while the writers who write scripts, composers, and lyrics are paid very low, and he really can't figure out the phenomenon of putting the cart before the horse. Since the 1990s, fake drugs, fake wine, fake cigarettes, fake oil, fake milk, fake meat (water-injected meat), fake fish (real and fake), fake rice (mixed with sand in rice) and other fake goods have flooded the market. Food adulteration is a matter of human life! He couldn't figure out why the world was so decadent and why morality was so degraded. A close friend specially arranged for him to stay in a warm star-rated hotel to let him spend the cold winter night. He went happily, took a shower, and had just laid down when the phone on the table next to the bed rang. A delicate female voice said, "Sir, do you want a massage?" Do you want to accompany the night? I'll come here. Xu Chi angrily dropped the phone and said to himself: "Wuhan is so big, I can't find a peaceful place to live." ”
Around 1996, that is, in the mid-1990s, there was no anti-corruption, anti-corruption, anti-extravagant, anti-pornography, and anti-counterfeiting law enforcement actions like today's anti-corruption, anti-corruption, anti-extravagance, anti-pornography, and anti-counterfeiting law enforcement actions, so the phenomenon of collusion between officials and businessmen, power and money transactions, bribery, disparity between the rich and the poor, eating and drinking, and extravagance and waste was very serious. Xu Chi deeply resented this. He was a man who had studied the Constitution in depth, but there were often cases in his life of violating the Constitution and breaking the law, and his power was greater than the law, and he was puzzled by this.
Obsessed with computers, Xu Chi
Xu Chi is an idealist with dignity and pursuit, and he cannot tolerate the spread of ugliness. In the face of such a helpless environment, how can we go with the flow and steal our lives! He couldn't help but think of Balzac's novel Disillusionment. He, like the author and protagonist of the novel, felt the disillusionment of ideals. He remembered his translation of Tolstoy's biography of Towon, who had run away alone in the winter at the age of 82 (1828-1910). Tolstoy was the conscience of the whole of Russia, and he wanted to follow in the footsteps of this master, and he also ran away in the winter of 82 years old (1914-1996). He remembered the "Thirty-six Strategies of the Duke of Tan, Walking is the Upper Plan" recorded in the "Book of Southern Qi and the Biography of Wang Jingze". He once told his closest and most trusted people, in a suggestive way, the idea of "thirty-six counts going up." But his close friend did not take it seriously, only thinking that this was as his poet xu Zhimo wrote in "Farewell to Kangqiao": "Quietly I left, just as I came quietly, I waved my sleeve, and did not take away a cloud." My close friend felt that this was the romantic feeling of the poet. In fact, Xu Chi had already chosen a time to get rid of the muddy and dirty life at that time.
Once, a passerby was unfortunately killed by a car, and he said that this person ended his life in a matter of seconds, which is a kind of happiness. Xu Chi scribbled a line in English and was difficult for others to recognize on a piece of paper he picked up in the hospital, which translated it into Chinese, that is, "The intention is strong, who can persuade me, who can save me?" A friend visited him in the hospital, and he said to his friend, "If you have any questions, ask me, if you don't ask, you won't be able to ask after a while." He said to a female doctor in the hospital who loved literature: "Flowers are full of thanks, and light is dark." A man, when his career reaches its peak, it is difficult to climb up, and the best ending before the turn is to fly. After speaking, Xu Chi made a flying gesture.
All these things are the outpouring of his thoughts of abandoning the world.
The time finally reached 12 o'clock in the night of December 12, 1996 (12 + 12 + 12 = 36), and thirty-six counts went up. He quietly sat up from the hospital bed, quietly stepped out of the balcony door, quietly pushed open the window, and leaped outward...
Ah, it was his series of incomprehensions that contributed to the death of the poet and brewed this tragedy that shocked the literary world.
The years passed. Xu Chi, who has pursued truth, goodness and beauty all his life, is unwilling to be associated with false evil and ugliness, and resolutely leaves us. In order to deeply remember him, to remember this poet who is as jealous as a vendetta and whose heart is as pure as ice and snow, I wrote this article in his old age.
Dear readers, you should always be vigilant against the false, evil and ugly people in life who are inconsistent in words and deeds and wear masks!
Source: Magazine of All Walks of Life, Issue 7, 2022
Author: Zhang Shouren